Evolving roles
by angelicyokai
Summary: With Conrad out of commision, its Yuuri who must step up and protect his hurt companion. Slash content with possible adult themes. Rating will likely increase as the fic progresses
1. Chapter 1

I own nothing and no one in this fic. I make no money at all, and certainly not from writing this. This will likely be a slash, shonen ai fic. If you don't like this concept, please leave. If you don't know what these words mean, back up and hit WIKI for info before reading. Beyond that, this is a Con/yuu fic. I don't know how far beyond friendship I am taking it, but the fic is going beyond friendship, so if you don't like this pairing, please leave.

Arriving in Shin Makoku, Yuuri finds himself alone in what seems to be human country. Conrad shows up to retrieve him...but things aren't exactly the same as always.

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The man was amazing, wasn't he? Yuuri had always thought so. From the moment he met Conrad Weller, the air of relaxed self assurance that the other man exuded told Yuuri that Conrad, if not perfect, was so superior to everyone he had met so far, in either world, that the brunette might as well be. Always protecting, always kind, even when pretending to betray the young Maoh, Conrad had done everything in his power to keep the young king safe.

Pleased with the knowledge that if he just sat long enough Conrad would get here, Yuuri reclined on a soft embankment and watched the snow silently falling. A long prairie, turned tundra for the winter, flowed out from the hill he sat on, and at his back a large forest loomed. Thoroughly aware that his transportation between Shin Makoku and Earth defied all known physics, the Maoh still found it humorous that he some how had emerged from a rivulet about two inches wide.

Yuuri would have to thank Murata when he got back to earth, or when the sage decided to grace Shin Makoku with his presence. His cryptic comment to 'bundle up' for the next day, when it was about 100 degrees outside, told Yuuri that another impromptu trip would be forthcoming, and likely in winter. Thus informed he had been carrying a change of clothes, blanket, some food and water, and a lighter with him in what was supposedly a waterproof bag, thankfully the top of the blanket had only gotten mildly wet when he 'tripped' into a convenient fountain in the park near his home.

Upon landing in the frigid environment Yuuri quickly stripped and changed into a pullover sweater, jeans, a brown leather coat with matching hat and gloves and some boots while being sheltered by the forest from any unwanted eyes. Despite the feeling that he would be made fun of, Yuuri also donned the soft pink scarf that his mother made for him. It was cold, and he couldn't find any of his other scarves, likely because his mother had hidden them.

Having sat at the edge of the forest for nearly an hour, the young Maoh was beginning to become concerned. Darkness would be setting soon and he had not seen any sign of his tardy protector, nor of anyone in fact.

Ah! As Yuuri heard galloping approaching, not from the prairie he had been scouting of course, rather from the forest, Yuuri turned to meet Conrad. Then as logic kicked in Yuuri hid behind a tree. He wasn't as thick as Wolfram liked to claim he was, and as no cries of 'Heika!' had yet greeted him, Yuuri would play it safe. Better to let Conrad ride past and have to circle back, then have to endure the worried eyes and disappointed lecture that would follow if the man had to rescue him yet again.

As the horse galloped past, the black haired boy could tell from the tack and coloring that it was, in fact, the one Conrad rode most often. He had to use the marking to make this decision, however, as the rider was not actually on the mount, and judging from the terrified pace the horse was setting across the prairie, something bad must have happened. This had to be the case if a superb rider like Conrad was unseated.

Running through the forest, dodging branches as he went, Yuuri soon reached his protector. Taking in the scene before him, Yuuri stopped dead in his tracks, mouth slightly agape.

In the darkening forest there was a large clearing, nearly unmarred by snow due to the heavy canopy above. In the center of the clearing kneeled Conrad. Upturned earth and branches were strewn about him, and the man seemed to be bleeding from at least a dozen gashes, possibly from a knife. His sharp brown uniform was covered in mud, leaves and blood, and his hair was mussed. The most astonishing feature of the moment was Conrad's face. His traditional soft eyes and smile had been replaced by a look of total despair. Tear marks traced down his strong features and his jaw was locked in a grimace. The other man didn't seem to notice the soft approach of his king, and as Yuuri cautiously stopped just a few feet from the scene he saw that Conrad's right hand, that closest to the boy, held his familiar sword loose against the ground, but on his far side...was that a doll? It looked something like a mannequin, but was made of straw. Whatever it was, it seemed thoroughly thrashed from a round with Conrad's fighting prowess, but it was on the broken object that the man's despairing gaze was riveted.

Not knowing what was going on was frightening for Yuuri. A brief look around made the boy fairly certain that he and Conrad were the only people here, so what had happened? If the doll were more cute and it was Gwendel kneeling next to it Yuuri could almost understand, but as it was...

Well he'd never understand if he just stood there, and if he looked at Conrad's grief-stricken face for another minute, Yuuri might end up in tears as well. No one and nothing should ever make Conrad look this unhappy.

Biting his lower lip, Yuuri reached out and gently grasped Conrad's shoulder, softly calling the other man's name as he made contact.

In an instant the Maoh was stepping back and wincing as he held his smartly hurting hand. He was a fool to not get Conrad's attention _before _touching the other man, and could only be thankful that the warrior had only used the pommel of his sword to knock the surprising touch away.

For a brief second, Yuuri understood why people called the brown haired man the Lion of Luchenberg. The feral, wounded glare leveled at him would have made him flee, and possibly wet himself, if not for his knowledge that Conrad would never purposely harm him. The glare turned to pure shock in a millisecond however and Yuuri, further unsettled by the unguarded emotion on his protectors face, attempted to break the silence.

Umm...hi. I'm back, and umm, look! Because of Murata I'm even wearing the proper clothes...I guess we need to find you some too...umm are you okay, Conrad...are you hurt..." During his chatter Conrad seemed to have nearly given himself whiplash as he rapidly divided his attention between Yuuri to the doll. Yuuri thought maybe his guard was worried the doll would move or something. The black haired boy personally thought dolls were creepy, and had seen too many American horror movies to completely disregard the killer doll concept.

His nervous internal and external ramblings were cut off when Conrad, still on his knees, turned back to Yuuri with eyes that brimmed with emotion.

"H-heika..." Was all that Conrad seemed capable of saying as his gaze settled unwaveringly on Yuuri's face.

Today was not going at all how he thought it would, with Conrad this upset Yuuri didn't know what to do. If the boy himself were this distraught Conrad or Wolfram would have tried to cheer him up. Then the thought struck the young Maoh, 'who cheers Conrad up?'

Well, Yuuri supposed it was up to him to try and lighten the mood.

"Honestly, its Yuuri! You named me and still you forget." Ignoring his throbbing hand, Yuuri huffed and crossed his arms in a petulant stance. "Maybe its Alzheimer's, you are really old after all. How sad to be struck with such an illness..."

Yuuri trailed off as Conrad quickly reached out to him, and Yuuri flinched slightly as one hand cupped the boy's face. The Maoh met his guard's eyes; the golden brown orbs filled with tears were even more intense since they were on the eye level with the boy's.

"Con-" was all that Yuuri managed to whisper, his arms dropping loosely to his sides as the older man's other hand wrapped around the boy's waist and dragged him into a crushing hug.

Yuuri could feel the unheard sobs wracking his protector's body. Instinctively he tried to offer comfort by wrapping his arms, as much as he could, around Conrad's broad shoulders. The older man's hand moved from the Maoh's cheek to tangle itself in the raven hair, and he seemed to burrow his face into Yuuri's neck.

Yuuri was used to being smothered by Wolfram when he slept, and Cheri or Günter whenever emotion overtook them. But being crushed against Conrad, the other's pain obvious, Yuuri reeled. It seemed he would never be able to get his wits together, with such rapid changes and emotions being thrown at him. All he could do was hold on to Conrad, and try to ease the other's pain, even if he didn't know the cause.

At his neck he heard Conrad whisper, "Heika, h-heika," then finally, "Yuuri," as the guard succumbed to his numerous wounds and passed out. The weight of the brown haired man unbalanced Yuuri, and he let out a grunt as he fell back against the cold earth, one of Conrad's arm's still wrapped around his middle, and his own hands on the guard's shoulders. The older man's face had slipped a bit, and was resting on Yuuri's chest, his rasping breath puffing against the Maoh's coat, and the cloud of warm air mixing with his own. As Yuuri lay there, trapped under his protector, he came to a few conclusions.

First, it was rapidly growing dark, and with the cold they could both freeze in the night, assuming Conrad _could_ freeze, if they didn't find shelter soon. Second, if the wet spots he could feel against his hands and arms were any indication he would need to heal his guard soon, or Conrad might bleed to death, again if the man was capable of falling to such. Third, if Yuuri found out what made Conrad hurt, bleed, and, he could barely even think it, what made the other man _cry_, pacifist or not, Yuuri might well have to kill them. No one was allowed to hurt his nazukeoya, someone so dear to him, this much.

Rolling the other man off of him with difficulty, Yuuri saw something that lightened his worries a bit. Conrad's faithful mount had returned, and stood at the edge of the clearing. Now all he had to do was find the two, well three with the horse, of them a cave or something, start a fire, and treat Conrad's wounds. Yuuri wasn't even a passable horseman or swordsman, and he considered himself a rather unreliable Maoh, but for the first time, he was the only one who could help another in this strange world, and he felt he could do it. He would heal the other man, and protect him if he needed to. He would make sure Conrad was healthy and smiling again so they could return home together.

* * *

Woohoo! I made a Conyuu! Or at least started one. Now I have two writers who I must thank for introducing me to this anime series and this pairing.

First, flacedice, who writes the amazing XXXholic fiction Supernatural Entanglements, wrote a story called Cow Bells. I only read it because I think flacedice is an amazing writer, and due to the story have watched about 60 episodes. Thank you flacedice!

Second is the author Vanessa S. Quest. Her many stories for Kyo kara maoh made me fall in love with the pairing of Conrad and Yuuri. Not too mention that her awesome writing style could make any pairing work. Thank you Vanessa.

Now I have humbly added my attempt at writing to the pool. I hope people like it and review. Oh, flames will be used for mixing strange chemical on my bunsen burner.


	2. Chapter 2

Well it has been forever! I'm finally back, and to those of you who reviewed and asked for more, thanks. Oh, as far as spoilers and such, I've not seen season 3 of KKM, and am placing this somewhere after Conrad goes off to Big Cimmaron (that jerk!) and then returns, other than that the timing isn't that relevant.

(I forgot) No money, no property, and no pretty boys for me from this fic.

* * *

It had taken Yuri far more time to get Conrad on his mount than it had to actually locate a useful cave. The dry hollow was more like a gutted hill that the caves that Yuri had seen in more mountainous regions, but it was large enough to hold the two of them, and he'd tied Conrad's mount right at the cave entrance, as an impromptu guard dog _–er_ horse. In the warm firelight Yuri leaned over his protector's prone form, dunking the cloth that was cooling Conrad's forehead again in the water the Maoh had made from melted snow. Conrad's supplies had included water, but Yuuri wanted to save that for cleaner drinking water, just in case they were here longer than overnight. If Conrad's fever stayed high, they wouldn't be going anywhere.

Yuri had hesitated over what to do with the weird doll thing. Leaving it there had seemed sensible, but what if were important, or could be fixed and attack them again? After a great deal of internal debate Yuri had tied the doll with Conrad's rope using many knots, and thrown it into the corner. At least it didn't have a face, and if nothing else he'd use it for kindling when the branches he'd grabbed around the cave entrance ran low.

It had taken some maneuvering, and some embarrassment, but Yuri had managed to prop his guard against the cave wall, wrestle his jacket and shirt off, and bind the man's wounds. Most were small scratches, possibly caused by the terrain rather than an attack, but Conrad's right forearm had a deep cut, and his chest sported a slash as wide as Yuri's palm. The Maoh may have gone a bit overboard with his bandaging, Conrad's bandaged right forearm was significantly thicker than his left now, but at least the older man wasn't going to bleed to death. Conrad was now resting on the cave floor, Yuri's blanket under him, his own covering him, and Yuri's wadded up coat forming a makeshift pillow under the fevered mazoku's head.

The Maoh was finally satisfied that his companion was as comfortable as possible and had just begun to rifle through the supplies for something to stop the rumbling in his stomach when Conrad let out a low groan.

"Heika..." The word was barely above a whisper, but Yuri caught it, having leapt back to the ill man's side.

"Conrad! Are you okay?" Yuri laid a hand on the other's forehead. Yep still burning.

"Please, no, Heika...I'm sorry." The words were full of remorse, and fairly incoherent, after a few more calls of his protector's name, Yuri figured the other man to be still unconscious but likely having nightmares.

Chewing on his lower lip Yuri rewet the cloth for Conrad's forehead also wiping down the man's face and neck in hopes of soothing him.

Yuri startled a bit as Conrad grabbed his wrist.

"No...Heika..." Conrad began to thrash a bit, still holding onto Yuri's wrist.

For his part, Yuri tugged futilely against the hold. He wasn't scared of Conrad; though that grip on his wrist was pretty tight he was scared _for_ him. What had happened in that clearing, assuming that was what this dream was about, that made his protector so upset?

Sighing, the teen knew that he'd get no answer until he got Conrad well again. After a minute of being still, Yuri felt Conrad's grip lessen and pulled his hand free.

Yuri puttered around the cave a bit, stoking the fire, adding more wood, and grabbing all the food and water. He knelt once again by Conrad and wrestled the man into a semi-sitting position. As the pair of them teetered Yuri scooted closer, wedging his knees under Conrad's shoulders to keep upright. Yuri grabbed a canteen of water, and jostled his sleeping protector into position to drink while nearly falling over in the process.

'Surely he'd hit a growth spurt soon.' Yuri groused 'Shori would have had no trouble maneuvering the older mazoku around.'

After a bit of spillage and coughing, Yuri got the hang of things and was able to help Conrad do drink some water, stroking the other man's throat to induce him to swallow rather than choke. After a few minutes the Maoh was confident that the other man would be good for the night.

After another round of shuffling and nearly falling, Conrad lay snugly under his blanket and Yuri repacked all their supplies. He would probably never manage to get Conrad out of the cave if something bad happened in the first place, but should he do so, he didn't want to be without food or water just because he hadn't planned ahead.

Making his way back over to Conrad, Yuri realized the flaw in his preparations. It was cold, and he was cold, and Conrad was using both his blanket and coat. He wouldn't sleep well without some kind of cover, but there was no way he was putting Conrad on the cold cave floor when the other man was sick.

Maybe? What the heck, Wolfram snuck into his bed whenever given the chance, and the blond nuisance never had any trouble sleeping. Conrad should just be glad that Yuri was neither a blanket hog nor wearing a frilly pink nightgown.

After some wiggling, and a blush that Yuri didn't want to think on the reason for, the Maoh's back was pressed against Conrad's frame. He could feel the older man's body like a line of fire against him, and that combined with the actual fire in the cave made him feel quite cozy. With one more check over his shoulder to make sure his companion had enough blanket, Yuri drifted off to sleep.

"No... God..." Yuri was immediately awake as Conrad knocked him closer to the fire. Yuri turned back to Conrad and saw that the man had managed to throw off his blanket. He was thrashing and clearly battling something that in his dream.

Yuri quickly grabbed the arm closest to him and held it still against his own body while he tried to figure out how to calm Conrad down before he hurt himself.

"Conrad its alright, its just Yuri! You're going to hurt yourself!" The other man managed to free his arm and nearly knocked Yuri over as he clipped the boy on the shoulder.

"Okay that's it." Yuri may not have Conrad's muscle or bulk, but the other man was sick! Surely Yuri wasn't this much of a wimp, no matter what Wolfram said. Avoiding another swipe the Maoh threw himself on Conrad, driving some of the wind from the other man's lungs. The teen then managed to wrangle both of the warrior's arms against his chest and leaned over Conrad's ever more violently thrashing form. He had an idea of one plea that might make it through the other man's fevered mind.

"Conrad stop. It's Yuri, if you don't stop thrashing your going to hurt _me_. Please stop." He spoke a little lower than his regular tone, feeling that shouting wouldn't do anything to calm his sickly companion.

In just a few moments Conrad's fighting lessened, and with a few more calm murmuring Yuri was pleased to see the other man slump against the ground, and shocked that his protector's eyes opened.

The boy leaned back as Conrad blinked, obviously confused, then the older man smiled as his eyes locked on Yuri's. The man pulled his hands free of Yuri's now slacked grip, the boy himself shocked at Conrad's seeming recovery.

"Conrad, are you okay now? Do you want some water? Oh! I should probably move-" Yuri was in the midst of rambling and gathering his wits as his attempt to move was halted by a hand gripping his thigh. It felt like slow motion as he looked down at Conrad, that the man's other hand wrapped around the back of his neck.

"Conrad?" 'Shinou, please don't let him start choking me' was all that Yuri managed to think as he was pulled flush against Conrad's prone form.

Yuri had no chance to speak as the other man's mouth was crushed against his own, the hand on his leg slid up over his rear and under his shirt. At his gasp, Conrad's tongue licked the seam of his mouth and slid inside, the other man's teeth grazing his lower lip. He couldn't jerk back with both of his hands trapped against Conrad's bare chest, and the hand at his neck was like a vice. For a few long moments Yuri was afraid he would suffocate. But then the pressure lessened and with a few more languid swipes of Conrad's tongue the hand on his neck moved to his hair. Wiith one final press of lips Conrad laid back against the ground, once again asleep.

Body on autopilot, Yuri slid off Conrad and repositioned him to be more comfortable in his bedding. He then got up and grabbed the other man's dry, but somewhat blood splattered coat. The teen then wrapped the coat around his shoulders and sat against the cave wall, staring into the fire.

'WHAT THE HELL!!!' Yuri's mind went into overload as the kiss replayed in his mind. How had that happened? How terribly wrong had he screwed up, half-assed Maoh that he was, for that to have just happened?

He bit is now swollen lip and shivered as he remembered the feel of Conrad's bare, muscled chest pressed under him, the other man's hands on him, and that demanding, skillful, mouth working against his own. Conrad had kissed him. He had basically made out with his injured and fevered protector.

Wait that's right! _That_ was why this whole stupid thing had happened. Conrad, likely delirious, probably didn't know what he was doing at all. He likely wouldn't even remember that it had happened. He could have been thinking of anyone when he did that, and it probably didn't mean anything. It was probably best that Yuri forget it ever happened and worry about how to get Conrad and himself home tomorrow, if his protector was well enough to travel at all.

Yuri felt some wetness slide down his face, and yep they were tears. Wiping angrily at his eyes, Yuri told himself they were from stress and tiredness and that was all. What else would they be from; the kiss was no big deal after all. And the idea that Conrad hadn't even realized he was doing it to...well that didn't bother him at all. Nope. Not one bit.

Yuri sighed as he slid down the wall to sleep. He couldn't even lie to himself this evening.

It was going to be a long and chilly night.

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Hi all! I'm back in this fandom too. Thank you to everyone who reviewed chapter one, and hopefully chapter two was fun for you. I think there is going to be more plot in this story than I had origionally thought, which I am pretty happy about.

Please enjoy responsibly. Reviews will be treasured. Flames will be used to burn my final grades.

Next Chapter: What on earth did happen to Conrad in that clearing??? Dun dun duuuuuuun


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